Forum > General Pinto Talk
Exploding Pinto is a Myth...Pinto Fires, NOT!
dga57:
I think it's fair to say that we all form our automotive opinions based on the cars we're exposed to. Personally, I have owned two Japanese cars in my lifetime (a Honda Civic and a Mazda 626) and do not plan to ever purchase another. In my experience, neither lived up to the hype of Japanese superiority. Overall, my worst experiences have been with German cars, although you are always hearing how great German technology is. I would count my BMW Z3, Volkswagen New Beetle, and Cadillac Catera (rebadged Opel) as the most problematic vehicles I've ever owned. British cars always take a hit on reliability and yet I've owned a Jaguar and a Rolls-Royce that never caused any problems at all. With the exception of a 1981 Lincoln (total lemon) I bought new, I have had exceptionally good service from Ford products. Have had decent service from GM vehicles too if you don't count the two early 80's diesels I bought. I currently drive a Ram 1500 4x4 pickup that I dearly love. With only 14000 miles so far, it's hard to say how it may stack up reliability-wise. I chose it over the comparable Ford and GM offerings because it was more comfortable and better looking in my opinion. I chose my 2014 Mustang convertible because I liked it better than anything GM or Chrysler offered. It runs great and I thoroughly enjoy it, but there again, it only has 12000 miles on the odometer so it's too soon to tell. We all have different experiences. I remember Dianne telling me she had a Cadillac Catera that she counted as one of her best cars. Go figure! I'm very happy for her because mine was pitiful. To me blind brand loyalty is similar to blindly voting a straight party ticket - but then, that's just my opinion.
Dwayne :)
amc49:
Go figure indeed........ .............a nd I don't consider myself smart. I just pay more attention than a lot of other people do to things. Take a car that someone swears they've never had any trouble with it and I'll easily find fifty things wrong with it, it's an obsessive/compulsive thing tied to overtly perfectionist mentality that allows (more like forces) me to do it. My curse if you will. But why I was always picked to run huge webpresses with multiple setup possibilities, I pursued setups far deeper than others to save thousands more in material cost. The bosses loved it.
My opinion only here and not trying to convert others but I can stand my ground.
Funny, the Focus window mechanism that breaks if you so much as look at it and many times is a Jaguar setup......... ......I saw the same with German cars at the store, I had no idea the German cars were so shoddily made, the lower level Volkswagens are literally throwaway cars. I view any late Chryslers as the same, they just never have done things in a logical fashion it seems. The big Ram trucks had so many problems it's not funny, far more parts bought for them than Ford or GM trucks. The owners groused about them all the time. The Fords had their issues like the Triton plug thing of course.
I expected some trouble from the Fords I bought, they were the lower end vehicles and at one time so cheap I figured on at least breaking even with parts. I don't see it as that way any longer, the cars have come way up in price including used and I will be looking elsewhere from now on.
I carp about breaking things but I don't think I've spent more than a guess $500-$700 overall averaged in any car's life I've owned but because I do all my own work and I count that as free.
Haven't owned any imports directly but worked on a lot of them. I did mess with a whole lot of Japanese two wheel stuff and I've always liked how they pay a lot more attention to detail little things to avoid them becoming bigger problems. Sixty seconds looking at the Nissan problem solving of engine vibrations at idle as versus Ford's cockeyed way of doing things and clear who does more thinking before implementing, it's all over the cars, all you have to do is look. No wonder the Fords have so many idle vibration issues, the engine mount design they use there is pretty much garbage.
FYI, the Mazda 626 was pretty much killed off by the ATX used there, Ford then takes the same trans to mod it several times while not accomplishing any real improvement and then problems galore all over again for a stream of years. The cars failed left and right, one of the largest reasons low mileage Contours/Mystiques were in the junkyards was that trans. They then used it in Escapes to even more problems. I used to see Escapes with trans out left and right at the Ford dealership we serviced with parts.
dianne:
The experiences each of us get from our ownership from cars is different. I think amc understands this himself because he's the MacGyver of the auto world taking a hairpin and some spit and raw iron and could repair a transmission. As I opened a garage, I found that everything comes in with weird problems. Problems on one car don't exist on another from a different day or week or month. My 78 Monte Carlo I bought new in 1978 was a total POS, but I see people restoring them today.
Bottom line is this thread got taken off topic I guess because if some comments. The Pinto is no different than any car out there from the 80s or 80s. My best new car ever was the Mustang II I got in 1974 and the Catera. Worse car ever was the 78 Monte Carlo.
Sorry MacGyver, but I love my Fords. Play dumb all you want, but you love to troll...
Scott Hamilton:
Norm has one of the best write ups on this, this is a must read for anyone looking for the truth,
https://pintostampede.com/the-pinto-myth
turbopinto72:
Just an FYI , Now , as of 2023 , there have been more Tesla's that have caught on fire then Pintos.
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